The Atonement
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The Atonement
The Atonement
When we gather around the Lord’s Table, we are commanded to remember His death until He comes. Last time that we gathered, we reminded ourselves and we do well to be sure that we remember what the Scriptures teach and remind us what we need to remember. Not only are we to remember to what we are to remember, we must remember accurately, that is scripturally.
We need to underscore this, the reason being that some Scriptural terms are gradually being redefined by some.
That is especially true with some aspects of the atonement. For that reason, over the next months as gather around this table, we will allow the Word of God to affirm in our minds what the atonement and the other theological terms that are aspects of the atonement - ie redemption, justification &reconciliation mean
Before we begin, we do well to understand some of the subtle changes that are developing.
Most of you will be aware of the comparatively new hymn/song co written by Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty in 2001.
“In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.s
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse…” (Stuart Townsend & Keith Getty - 2001)
Not that many years after it was written, some individuals and representatives of hymn committees, some of them denominational and broader evangelical, requested permission of the writers to edit part of the lyrics.
The section in question was,
“Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied.”
The suggested revision was.
“Till on that cross as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified.”
STUART TOWNSEND AND KEITH GETTY REJECTED THE PROPOSED REVISION. For that reason the hymn as we know it has been dropped from some newer hymnals.
Among those who proposed the change, there is discomfort with any reference to the wrath of God.
One of the theologians who have influenced these revisions expressed themselves this way.
“The cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse - a vengeful Father, punishing His Son for an offence that he has not even committed … If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes mockery of Jesus’ teaching to love your enemies … the idea that God was an angry deity, requiring a sacrifice to propitiate his wrath was surely more like an ancient pagan god than the Father of Jesus Christ.” (Steve Chalke & Alan Mann - The Lost Message of Jesus)
I am very sure that these conclusions have been made with all sincerity. They would say that we have lost Jesus message and have misunderstood Paul with regard to justification by faith - ie the new perspective on Paul.
Instead , I would commend to you J I Packer’s succinct definition of penal substitution - Jesus Christ by and in His death suffered in our place enduring the just wrath God for sinners.
“The notion which the phrase ‘penal substitution’ expresses is that Jesus Christ our Lord, moved by love that determined to do everything necessary to save us, endured and exhausted the distinct divine judgment for which we were otherwise inescapably destined, and so won for us forgiveness, adoption and glory. To affirm penal substitution is to say that believers are in debt to Christ specifically for this, and that this is the mainspring of their joy, peace and praise both for now and for eternity.” (Packer - The Logic of Penal Substitution, 1974, p 25)
In our remembering today, we will allow what the Scriptures record and teach us about atonement and the once and for all atonement secured by Jesus Christ.
Old Testament:
kapporet - usually translated - “atonement cover” or “mercy seat”
“Atonement, a word coined by the sixteenth-century reformer and Bible translator William Tyndale, describes the solution to the offense toward God caused by human sin.” - Gabriel Fluhrer
“reparation for an offense or injury” - Webster
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
Ex 25:17
The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.
Ex 37:
In the whole chapter was devoted to the Day of Atonement - for the children once in the year for all their sins.
Atonement for Aaron’s sins, atonement for the sins of the people, atonement for the Holy Place because of the sins of the people in the midst of whom the tabernacle was set up.
So similar to Isaiah’s later realization and confession.
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
“Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
“And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Lev 16:1-
New Testament:
Two nouns:
hilasmos - atoning sacrifice or propitiation - Jesus himself is the sacrifice that atones for sin.
What is another word for propitiation?
“pacify, appease, placate, mollify, propitiate, conciliate mean to ease the anger or disturbance of someone for an offence” - Webster
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 jb 2:2
Our sins destroyed/severed our relationship with Go. Christ’s shed blood purifies us from all sin and restores our fellowship with God. All of this because of God’s love expressed in Jesus - given by Father - submitted to by Jesus - to be our atoning sacrifice for sin.
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
New Testament noun: ἱλασμός (hilasmos). Hilasmos refers to “an atoning sacrifice” or “propitiation.” This word occurs in and 4:10. Jesus is himself the sacrifice that atones for sin. Our sins have destroyed our relationship with God, but Christ’s shed blood purifies us from all sin and restores us to fellowship with God (). We should never forget that the root of our reconciliation with God is his incredible love, expressed when he sent his Son to be our atoning sacrifice.
- the other NT word - ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion). Hilastērion means “atonement cover” or “sacrifice of atonement” or “that which propitiates or expiates.” In the Septuagint, it’s used almost exclusively for the atonement cover (kappōret) placed on top of the ark of the covenant.
“1. In , hilastērion corresponds to the Old Testament use—the atonement cover on top of the ark. That’s where God dwelt in all his glory.
having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
2. The other use of hilastērion is in , where Paul writes that God has presented Jesus as a “place of atonement.” This word must relate first to its Old Testament usage, so that Jesus is the person/place where God passes over our sins without punishing them because of his sacrifice. Christ now occupies the very place the atonement cover inhabited in the Most Holy Place for the removal of sins on the Day of Atonement. He’s also the One in whom God lives in the flesh, and the One through whom God’s wrath against sin () is placated, resulting in a renewed relationship between God and rebels.
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Rom 3
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
When we put these two Greek nouns together, along with the verb hilaskomai, we see that Jesus is represented in the New Testament as the priest who performs the atonement sacrifice (hilaskomai), as the One who is himself the atonement sacrifice (hilasmos), and as the place where the atonement sacrifice occurs (hilastērion).
Everything we need for God’s forgiveness, for the removal of God’s anger, and for reconciliation with God himself can be found in Jesus.”
Having from the Word of God been reminded of what we need to remember with regard to Christ’s death in our place, we do well to also allow the Scriptures to remind us of what the Word of God says about the wrath of God.
For some today, a reference to wrath and or anger on the part of God wrangles the sentiments of some.
They ask:
- How can hell be just?
- Why would God demand justice?
- Why did God command the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites?
Some of those same folks need to remember other questions.
- If God is holy and just, why does he allow suffering without intervening to make things right?
If the holy wrath of God is pushed aside, is there no more sin, is there no more repentance and conversion as Peter preached on the day of Pentecost.
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Acts 3:
God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Acts 3:
How can we worship a God who is anything but warm and loving?
God’s heart breaking for those who have been hurt and cry for justice is hard for some to understand. For some there is the call for peace and turning the other cheek. But while we are to be peacemakers and turn the other cheek, that does not mean that we do not ask for intervention and justice for those who are wronged, maimed and scarred.
The Word of God teaches us this with regard to God’s wrath:
We live in a day where we have set ourselves as the judge and God’s character is on trial. “How can hell be just?” “Why would God command the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites?” “Why does God always seem so angry?”
It is just.
The fact that so many people struggle with these questions, and many more like them, means that more than ever right thinking is needed about the doctrine of God’s wrath. It is needed for motivation for Christian living, fuel for proper worship, and as a toolbox to confront objections to Christianity.
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Here are five biblical truths about the wrath of God:
“God’s wrath is his love in action against sin.” (John Piper)
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?
The biggest issue that all of us face is that our concept of wrath or anger is marred and distorted by our sin nature.
“God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self indulgent, irritable, moral ignoble thing that our human anger so often is, It is instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil.” (Packer, Knowing God, p 151)
J.I. Packer summarizes: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, 151).
J.I. Packer summarizes: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, 151).
It has become common for many to argue that the God of the Old Testament is a moral monster that is by no means worthy of worship.
However, biblical authors have no such problem. In fact, God’s wrath is said to be in perfect accord with God’s justice. Paul writes, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (). God’s wrath, then, is in proportion to human sinfulness.
2. It is to be feared.
2. It is to be feared.
“God’s wrath is his love in action against sin.”TweetShare on Facebook
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Similarly, says, “If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?”
‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Jer
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
3. Consistent in the Old and New Testaments.
Behold the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
Jer
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
4. His love in action against sin.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
J.I. Packer summarizes: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, 151).
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
5. Satisfied in Christ.
“In saving us from his own wrath, God has done for us what we could not do, and he has done what we do not deserve.” - Piper tweet
“In saving us from his own wrath, God has done what we could not do, and he has done what we didn’t deserve.”TweetShare on Facebook - Piper
“In saving us from his own wrath, God has done what we could not do, and he has done what we didn’t deserve.”TweetShare on Facebook - Piper
God’s wrath is to be feared because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (). God’s wrath is to be feared because we are justly condemned sinners apart from Christ (). God’s wrath is to be feared because he is powerful enough to do what he promises (). God’s wrath is to be feared because God promises eternal punishment apart from Christ ().
3. God’s wrath is consistent in the Old and New Testaments.
3. God’s wrath is consistent in the Old and New Testaments.
It is common to think of the Old Testament God as mean, harsh, and wrath-filled, and the God of the New Testament as kind, patient, and loving. Neither of these portraits are representative of Scripture’s teaching on the wrath of God.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
We find immensely fearful descriptions of the wrath of God in both the Old and the New Testament. Here are just a few examples:
“God must act justly and judge sin, otherwise God would not be God.”TweetShare on Facebook
Behold the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. ()
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. ()
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ()
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ()
1
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
4. God’s wrath is his love in action against sin.
4. God’s wrath is his love in action against sin.
This is counter-intuitive, but hear me out.
God is love, and God does all things for his glory (; ). He loves his glory above all (and that is a good thing!). Therefore, God rules the world in such a way that brings himself maximum glory. This means that God must act justly and judge sin (i.e. respond with wrath), otherwise God would not be God. God’s love for his glory motivates his wrath against sin.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit do what we cannot do and do not deserve.
Admittedly, God’s love for his own glory is a most sobering reality for many and not good news for sinners. It is after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ().
5. God’s wrath is satisfied in Christ.
5. God’s wrath is satisfied in Christ.
“In saving us from his own wrath, God has done what we could not do, and he has done what we didn’t deserve.”TweetShare on Facebook
Charles Wesley rightly wrote.
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain!
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?